Apple sues OpenAI over alleged trade‑secret theft impacting hardware plans

Apple has filed a 40‑page trade‑secret lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California accusing OpenAI of a systematic pattern of poaching former Apple employees to obtain confidential hardware information. The complaint specifically names Tang Tan, OpenAI’s chief hardware officer and former Apple vice‑president of design, and former Apple engineer Chang Liu, alleging they encouraged candidates to bring Apple prototypes, CAD files and other proprietary data to OpenAI interviews. Apple says more than 400 ex‑Apple staff now work at OpenAI and that the misappropriated material includes metal‑finishing techniques, battery‑design specifications and other early‑stage hardware designs. Apple seeks an injunction and damages, warning that the litigation could delay OpenAI’s upcoming hardware product—a mobile smart speaker – and affect its planned IPO valuation. The lawsuit does not name former Apple design chief Jony Ive, who now leads OpenAI’s hardware design through his studio LoveFrom, a decision Apple attributes to a lack of direct evidence of wrongdoing and to personal ties with Ive’s longtime associate Laurene Powell Jobs. OpenAI denies the allegations and says the case lacks merit.